#1 Stanford Faces Its Toughest Test Yet at #3 Duke

The biggest match on Sunday’s college soccer schedule comes in Durham, where #1 Stanford takes its unbeaten start into an ACC opener against #3 Duke. Stanford enters 6-0-1 after controlling most of its nonconference schedule, but the Cardinal have already shown they can be made uncomfortable. USC twice answered Stanford goals in a 2-2 draw earlier this month, the only match Stanford has failed to win. The response was emphatic three days later, when Stanford went to Santa Clara and won 4-0 behind a hat trick from Jaden Thomas, who has quickly become one of the players to watch in an attack that also features Charlotte Kohler.

Duke has been just as convincing. The Blue Devils are 5-0-1, have won four straight and have scored 22 goals while allowing only four. Their only dropped points came in a 1-1 draw at UCLA, and they opened the season by beating USC 3-1 — the same USC team that later held Stanford to a draw. Mia Minestrella has been at the center of that start, scoring eight times in Duke’s first six matches, while transfers Katie Shea Collins and Sam Courtwright have immediately added another layer to the attack. Collins has five goals and Courtwright has three, giving Duke multiple ways to create pressure in the final third.